Heroes

Our little grandson, Blake, recently had surgery on his hip.

As is sometimes a condition with Downs, 

his hip sockets are loose, 

and his left hip needed to be tightened up.

His leg was sometimes pulling out from the socket.

This requires six weeks in a body cast,

then another surgery to remove that cast

and then put him in another one. 

Blake has been walking and running around,

indoors and out, for sometime now, 

so his family looked forward to all of this 

with fearful apprehension.

Would he freak out with the confinement, 

not being able to get down and play/walk/run,

and not understand why?

The great news is, 

Blake is taking it like a champ!

His Primary class sent over this signed banner - 

Rick and Jodie's ward love Blakey!

Each member of Blake's family spends hours 

playing hand games with Blake, 

playing catch with different balls, 

and singing and reading to him.

But the real truth be told,

his VERY FAVORITE THING 

is the iPad!

He knows how to navigate games and sites,

and his favorites are Mickey's Clubhouse and Daniel Tiger.

A hero is a man/woman who is 

admired for his/her courage and noble qualities.

This woman (Blake's mom) is hero personified.

She lifts and carries this little guy (50 lbs. worth)

constantly, cares for him in every way

and does it all with a big smile on her face 

and in her voice.

She, along with everyone in the family,

adores Blake!

And, speaking of heroes, here is another one, in my book.

My husband came down with shingles 

on the day before we left for Mesa 

for Syd's high school graduation.

On the 7 1/2 hour drive from St. George,

he kept grabbing his right ear, 

each time he had a shooting pain in his head.

He had a large, swollen gland behind his ear,

and the right side of his head was very sore to the touch.

Our doctor son and doctor son-in-law 

diagnosed him a couple of days after we got to Mesa, 

when he started breaking out with painful sores.

He took ibuprofen and Tylenol

and just kept going, not missing one thing,

including going golfing 

with his son, son-in-law and grandsons.

His stamina and mind-over-matter never fail to astound me!

He still has pain, and we hope it will eventually go away,

but he has not missed any scheduled event

or a day of work yet!

There are other reasons why I consider my husband a hero,

but this is just the latest one!

And here is another hero - our son, Rick.

He also spends countless time with Blake,

who absolutely adores him!

And, he is a wonderful father of his children

and the father of his ward as their bishop.

Roger and I had fun selecting some gourmet cheeses, 

meats, Tony Caputo pepper shooters and pickly goodies 

and making a basket for him for his birthday.

I think, the older we get,

the more we fully appreciate the heroic qualities of those we love,

and there are others I love who have heroic qualities, 
but these are the latest.

 I just wanted to share.